Complaint Review: Firestone - N. Hollywood California

I have a very clean 1989 Toyota Tercel that has a rebuilt engine. I've been taking it to Firestone in N. Hollywood CA since 1-99 and dealing exclusively with the manager Dave who is very nice. I take it in every 2500 miles and Dave thoroughly checks out my car at each oil change so I won't have any surprises. At 195,000 miles I began to have overheating problems which was determined was the thermostat needed to be replaced. Upon driving home (4 miles) the car was overheating and I noticed a major leak under my car while opening the garage door. My car never ever leaked coolant before?

Dave then showed my that the water pump was leaking and explained that 195,000 miles had taken it's toll on it and it needed to be replaced. Additionally he showed me my radiator was cracked said it would explode any time. If I had it replaced while the a "NEW" water pump was installed he would not charge me for labor. I said OK. $700.00!!! That hurt!

Two months later I complained to my husband that my car was running hot and when I checked the water it was empty. He said I was crazy because the entire cooling system was brand new, hoses etc.. It must be some freak incident.

I told this to Dave at my next oil change and he basically said the same thing as my husband. This continued to happen intermittently every other month and when I took the car in for an oil change every 2500 miles nothing wrong could be found.

It's now 4/2002 and my husband borrowed the car and it over heated on him so now he believes me. I had him take the car back to Firestone and they performed pressure tests which took the entire day. The results were everything is fine, I just need to buy 2 new front tires??? Dave was not there.

Upon driving home the car overheats and I take it back the next day and demand that something is wrong and I want it fixed.

We'll it turns out Dave is no longer the manager. My water pump has less than 10,000 miles on it and is NO GOOD, and the warranty is for 6 mo. and has expired. Since there is no record in the computer of my problem I am told I have no proof there ever was a problem and therefore I must pay all over again to get it fixed. I request to talk to a supervisor who I am never able to contact and does not return my calls.

The new manager says he's going to give me a special deal because I'm such a good customer, (I've spend over $4,000 at Firestone since 1/99) and Firestone will pay for all the parts and I will pay for labor which will be $263.00? I was originally charged $185.00 total, $81.00 for parts and $104.00 for labor with no discounts when my husband was with me, and now the parts and labor have gone up I'm told???

AND, I find out now that the "new" water pump that was first put in was a rebuilt! Not new at all which my receipt states "New Water Pump"!!!!!!!!!!! When my husband asked for one single reasonable excuse why the old water pump did not last more than 10,000 miles and why we should pay again we are told the warranty has expired. A mechanic chimes from the back stating it must of been defective! My husband raises his voice and repeats his question and the manager says since I'm not accepting their offer I must immediately get my car off their property or he will throw us out the door because we are disturbing his other customers or he will call the police and I can do what I have to do!

You think I would win if I take them to court. They had my car for a week and now instead of having an intermittent leak, I can not drive 2 blocks before ALL the coolant is gone, they purposely sabotaged my car!!! Can you believe this B.S>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sincerely,

X firestone customer

Florence

N. Hollywood, California